Electrically-actuated valve



R. E. DAvls /ELECTRICALLY ACTUATED VALVE 4Fiecl oct'. 7, 1922 Jig Ilwl/ Aug; 9, 1927.

v im! Rex, Earle pa/is Patented Aug. 9, 1927.

UNETED STATESl 1,638,325 PATENT- OFFICE.

REX EARLE DAVIS, F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO BRENCO CORPORA- TION, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A'CORPORATION OF MINNESOTA.

ELECTRICALLY-ACTUATED VALVE.

Application filed October 7, 1922. Serial No. 593,135.

My invention relates to improvements in electrically actuated valves.

Broadly its object is to supply an improved valve of this kind, which is simple, compact, positive in operation and economcal in use.

More specifically it is my object to provide a valve of thel present nature for cutting 011 and permitting the flow of gas in a gas heater feed pipe, the movable valve member being turned step by step through electrically actuated ratchet mechanism for opening and closing the valve.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear in the following description, the invention resides in the novel combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

1n the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan View lof a valve embodying my invention; Fig. 2 s a sectional view taken as on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is also a sectional view, the same being taken as on the line 3-3 of Fig.

2; Fig. 1 is a detail sectional view illustrating the rotating valve member and valve body, also the ratchet mechanism and spring for turning said member and Fig. 5 is a bottom view illustrating` the actuating lever and pawl thereon, also the ratchet carried by the valve member.

My valve is used particularly in replacing the ordinary hand valves on gas heaters used domestically and ordinarily located in the basements of dwellings. It is operated electrically from points remote from the heater and near the sources of water supply as in bathrooms, kitchens, laundries and elsewhere, whereby special trips to the heater for manipulation of the usual hand valveis avoided. The present valve is a unitary structure, employing the ordinary gas supply pipe as a mounting therefor. It includes a valve body A, a valve member B, a ratchet lever C for turning said member step by step, and a solenoid magnet D carried on a bracket integral with the valve body, said lever being swung in its operative throw by said magnet and returned to starting positionby a wire spring 11. y

rThe valve body A has an elongated chamber 12 therein and aligned passages 13 communicating therewith and reaching through opposed end port-ions a of the valve body. Said portions a are threaded internally to receive the branches Yof a which supply a mounting Vithin the chamber 12 are spaced webs 15 (Figs. 3 and 4). The inner walls of the webs 15 and the opposed walls a of the chamber 12 from a valve seat tapering upward from the bottom of the valve body, thespaces between the webs 15 and the walls a forming opposed pairs of'po'rts 16, one portof each pair communicating with one of the passages 13. Engaging the valve seat is the tapered valve member B, the body thereof being hollow. Four equally spaced ports 17 gas feedpipe, for 'the valve.

formed longitudinally in the body of the y valve member B communicate with each other and register simultaneously with the ports 16 in certain positions of the valve member B. A forty-five degree turn of the valve member B carries the ports 17 in said member from registering position with the p'orts 16 to positions obstructed bv the webs 15 and walls a of the valve body (Fig. 35, while a further forty-five degree turn of said valve member B, in the same direction, again causes the registration of said ports 17 with the ports 16. rhus it will be understood that, upon each one-eighth turn of the valve member B. the valve is either fully opened or closed.

Fixed on a reduced extension b of the valve member B is a ratchet 18 and a signal contacting device E, which will be more fully hereinafter described. Above the ratchet 18 and fitted over the extension Z2 is a sleeve 19 having an annular flange 20 thereon,'said sleeve 19 being held -in position by means of a nut 21 fitted on the threaded extremity of said extension b and turned down against the'sleeve. That portion of the sleeve beneath the flange supplies a bearing for the lever C, which is pivoted horizontally thereon. A spring pressed pawl c pivoted on the under side of the lever C engages the ratchet 18 and turns the valve member B upon the movement ofsaid lever C in direct-ion to the right as seen Ain Fig. 1. The spring wire 11 coiled aboutthe sleeve 19,- above the flange 20 and beneath a washer 22 interposed between said sleeve 19 and nut 21, has one end thereof caught in a clip 23 on the lever C and its other end secured to a post 2A anchored in the valve body A. Said wire is wound and secured at its ends as described, to swing the lever C to the left, Fig. 1.

Reaching from the side of the valve body A is the bracket l() carrying the solenoid magnet E, which includes a tubular guide 25, one end thereof being slotted asV at 26. A core 27, Afreely slidable in this guide, has a pin 28 secured thereto and reaching upward through said slot 26 and through a slot 29 in the free end of the lever C. Wfrapped about the end of the guide 25, oppositeits slotted end, is a coil 30 of insulated wire, the ends 30L thereof being connected with a circuit including a source of electrical-supply and a switch (not shown) located in conveniently accessible position. The parts of the magnet D are so proportioned that the movement of the core 27, when attracted byY thev electrical force set up in the coil 30, is sufficient to swing the lever C, through forty-tive degrees. ln this working thrust `of the core 27, said lever is movedagainst the action of the spring ll, which operates, upon the cessation of current through said coil, to return the lever C and core 27 to starting position, (Fig. l). FromV the foregoing, it will be understood that an operator, temporarily setting up a current in the coid D, will either close or open the valve Vaccording to the position of the valve member B. To apprise the operator, at a distant switch, as to the position of the valve member B, I supply a signal including the contacting device E heretofore referred to. As will be observed, this device comprises four radial contact plates 31, spaced equally between insulating holding discs 32 laxially secured on the extension of the valve member B. A pair of spring arms 33 mounted on the valve body A, but insulated therefrom, rest in the pathsof the plates 3l, whosegangular larrangement is such that contact between one of the plates 3l and yboth ofisaid arms 33 y,occurs whenever the valve is open, or, in lother words, when the ports 17 in the valve member B are brought into registration with the ports 16 `in the valve body A. l/Vires 34 connected with the arms 33 `are included in a circuit (not shown) equipped with an electric signaling lamp, which, when lighted, indicates to the operator that the valve is open. rThreaded on the lower side of the valve body ,A is a` cup 35 serving as an oil receptacle, also as a tension yadjuster for a spring 36 interposed between said cup and the valve .member B. The lowerfend of said member B is recessed, as at 37, to permit of the use of a` spring 36 of substantial length and to supply a resrvoir for oil. Said cup 35 provides for securing the desired pressure of the valve member B against its seat in the valve body A and holds oil, placed therein, inposition to be drawn by capillary attraction between said valve member B and its seat.

Changes in the specific form of my invern chamber having four, equally spaced Vports Y therein, one port of each pair communicating through said chamber with one of said passages, a movable, hollow valve member engaging said seat and formed with four, equally spaced, elongated ports adapted to be alternately registered with the valve seat ports and sealed bythe valve seat walls, a ratchet wheel fixed to the valve member, a lever pivoted thereon, a spring pressed pawl on the lever arranged to engage the ratchet wheel and turn the valve member in one direction, a spring tensed between the valve body and lever to return the latter, a bracket carried by the valve body, a solenoid magnet, on said bracket, including a guide, a core slidable within the guide and an energizing coil to draw the core in one direction in said guide and means connecting the free end of the lever with the core, -said core, when energized, serving to swing the lever and open or close the valve member against the action of said spring and adapted, when ldemagnetized, -to be retracted upon the return throw of said lever by said spring. y

2. A valve comprising a valve body and a valve member revoluble therein and adapted alternately to open and close the valve a number of times upon each revolution of said member, a ratchet wheel fixed to the valve member, a sleeve on the valve member, a lever pivoted on said sleeve, a spring pressed pawl-on the lever arranged to engage the ratchet wheel and turn the valve member upon a throwvof said lever in one direction, a spring coiled medially thereof about said sleeve for returning the lever, a bracket carried by the valve body, a solenoid magnet, on said bracket, including a guide, a. core slidable within the guide and an energizing coil wound on lthe guide to draw the core in one direction therein, and means connecting the free end of the lever with the core, said core, when energized, serving to swing the lever and open or close the valve by turning the valve member against the action of said spring and adapted, when demagnetized to be retracted upon the return throw of said lever by said spring.

3. A. valve comprising a valvev body and a valve member revoluble therein and adapted alternately to open and close the valve member a number of times upon each revolution of said member, a ratchet Wheel fixed to the valve member, a sleeve on said valve member, a. lever pivoted on the sleeve, a paWl on the lever arranged to engage the ratchet Wheel and cause the same to turn the valve member upon a throw of said lever in one direction, a spring coiled about said sleeve, one end thereof beingl secured to said lever and the other end thereof secured With respect to the valve body, means arranged on the valve member for holding the Sleeve in place thereon and for holding the coiled portion of said spring in place on said sleeve, electrically actuated means for svving- 15 ing the lever in a direction to turn the valve member, said spring serving to return said lever.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

\ REX EARLE DAVIS. 

